Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dynamic Data Center, Dynamic Metrics

I'm happy to see that the Green Data Center Blog points out that data center efficiency metrics like PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) need to be necessarily dynamic if/when the data center is dynamic:

"I've been meaning to write about PUE, and have been stumped in that It is defined as a metric, and in the Green Grid document referenced it makes no reference that is dynamic. In reality PUE will be a dynamic # that changes as the load changes in a room. How ironic would it be that your best PUE # is when all the servers are running at near capacity, and shutting down servers to save power will [actually] increase your PUE?

If you look at Gartner's description of "Real-Time Infrastructure" (RTI), IDC's "Dynamic IT" or Forrester's "Organic IT" concept, they all point to evolutionary steps where data centers will adapt/respond to demand by re-purposing equipment in real-time. As this happens, the metrics that will define efficiency will need to track this as well.

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Professionally, I'm a technology marketer -- my real passion is introducing new products & technologies into nascent markets. I'm an EE by training, enlightened a bit with an MBA. I've spent lots of time at early stage companies, as well as Sun Microsystems, Cassatt, Egenera, EMC and Citrix. Today at WSO2, I'm helping drive the future of digital transformation with open-source products for API management and integration.
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